In 2018 Essex Police had to investigate one incident of common assault, while this year the force has already logged two incidents where letters or notes were sent with the intent to cause distress or anxiety.

There are two versions of Fortnite. The most popular is Fortnite Battle Royale, which pits 100 players against each other in a fight for survival and the last player standing wins.

Fortnite is one of the most popular games in the world (Image: Stoke on Trent Live)

There are 125 million people playing around the world on platforms including Windows, Xbox, Nintendo and PlayStation – as well as mobile.

The other version, Save the World, sees players working together to fight zombies after 98 per cent of the world’s population was wiped out.

Published by Epic Games in September 2017 after several years in development the game is free to play.

Players can play solo or in small teams and fight your way through the game by staying in a constantly shrinking safe zone, while scavenging weapons and killing off rivals.

At an event at a YMCA in west London, the Duke of Sussex launched a scathing attack on social media and gaming – singling out Fortnite for particular criticism.